Mutants
by The Nerdy Samurai
Summary: Riley. Aaden. Julius. Caelia. Four new mutants that are completely different, but all have something in common. What is it? Please R&R.
1. Riley

Logan stepped out of the car into the deep New York suburbs. He took off his sunglasses and looked around. There were homeless people everywhere; trash bags that's never been picked up. Storm took a breath and stood beside him.

"The kid lives here, huh?" He asked.

"Yes, as far as we know." Storm started walking past groups of people who huddled around bonfires, trying to stay warm in the beginning of winter. He watched as she asked one of them about their subject. "Thank you," she said as she followed the pointed hand toward an alley. Logan followed, suspiciously looking around.

"What's the big deal about her?" Logan asked.

"Cerebro found her in the hands of the Brotherhood a few days ago. The professor tried to get past, but…something was blocking us from telling us exactly where she was until this morning." She sighed as they were getting closer. Logan watched eyes as they passed through groups of people.

When they came to the alley, Logan sniffed. "Hey, Storm. I smell trouble." They came to the alley, where they saw a girl and two boys. The girl appeared to be shielding herself from the other two as though they were a threat to her. Storm walked a few more paces.

One of the boys looked up and sneered. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing to the girl?" Logan asked.

"Go away!" The other boy kicked the girl, and she shook her head.

"Stop it!" She yelled.

"Come on! We know what you can do!"

"No!"

Logan stepped ahead of Storm. "Hey! You leave her alone, or you're gonna get into serious trouble."

"Yeah, right!" They ran towards Logan.

"Logan," Storm said, looking towards him to see what he was going to do with them.

"Eh, let them come."

The girl looked up, and saw what was happening. She pounded her fist into the ground, and two pillars came through the ground, and lifted the boys up above the ground. She stood and laughed.

"Hey! Hey! Get us down, Riley!"

"Leave me alone, and I'll think about it! I can just leave you there if I want to!" She made a pushing movement and the boys slammed into the wall. The pillars descended back into the ground, as she made a fist. Fire rose up her arm.

"Riley!" Storm yelled to her. "Calm down!"

The air started to pick up. Storm and Logan kept their eyes on her. Riley looked at the boys, who struggled to get up. She pointed her hands towards them, and they inched back.

"Hey, hey, Riley. We're sorry, alright."

"Yeah, real sorry."

She rolled her eyes. "You're lying. You're not sorry. Leave me alone, or you won't be sorry." They lifted their hands up and ran away.

Storm went over to her, as Riley dropped to her knees. She held her head, then noticed Storm and Logan coming towards her.

"Who are you?"

"We're mutants," Logan said, rubbing his knuckles.

"Like you," Storm added, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"Oh," Riley replied, shivering from the cold. She looked at them and looked down. "I'm sorry about that. There were just too many…"

"We understand, Riley. You're having trouble controlling your powers. It happens to every mutant."

"I am?"

Logan nodded. "Yeah, with that much force, you could have beaten those two to bits. They were guilty, but they don't deserve to die…hate to break it to you."

"Like I care," she said replacing her hand on her head. She drooped forward, and Storm caught her.

"That kid's gonna to be trouble," He said, helping her carry Riley.


	2. Julius

Julius stood on the steps of the school. He lifted his fist to knock, but hesitated and waited. He wondered if his parents bothered worrying about him…whether he should go back and explain he's a freak. Julius shook his head. _They'll never believe me. Oh, yeah, mom, dad, Sam, I can freeze and travel through time by the way. Yeah, right._

He knocked. The door opened immediately, revealing a man with sunglasses. "Julius Copewood, right?"

Julius nodded, feeling uneasy already. "I'm Julius."

"Good." He motioned him to come in. Julius sighed, and walked through the door, and started looking around.

"I'm Scott Summers by the way."

"Nice to meet you." Julius shuffled his feet, and watched a few kids run upstairs. "So, I guess you knew I was coming."

"Eerie to you isn't it?"

Julius shrugged. "I'm guessing you have some uh, psychic friends here.

"Looks like you already know about us."

Julius shook his head. "I don't know anything. To tell you the truth…this all feels like…" He scratched his head. "…my science fiction stories," he mumbled.

"Oh, so you're the sci-fi writer."

"Yeah…"

"How does it feel to be part of your own stories?"

Julius blinked, and didn't reply. Scott grinned.

They walked until they came to a recreational room, just on the first floor. There were mutants doing about everything…playing games, hanging out and talking with friends, and showing off their mutant ablilites.

"Bobby," Scott called. A boy with brown hair and blue eyes came up to them.

_Well, he looks normal_, Julius thought.

"Bobby, Julius. Julius, Bobby." They shook hands.

"Nice to meet you," Bobby said.

"Same here. It looks like you've been here a while."

Bobby shrugged. "Never counted."

Julius turned around, and noticed Scott was gone. "Hey, wha-?"

Bobby smirked and patted his shoulder. "From now on, I'm your guide."

"So, what can you do?"

Bobby switched his gaze to a kid they called Pyro, a light headed kid who kept flicking a lighter. Julius followed Bobby's gaze. Pyro was sitting alone, staring at the rest of the commotion, flicking his lighter. Once in a while a flame would flicker out. He would catch it, close his hand, and it would disappear. Bobby pointed his finger, and in an instant blue ice came from his finger. The flame froze, becoming a solid icicle. It dropped, and broke onto the floor, shattering into gossamer pieces. Pyro looked up, and spotted Bobby.

"Bobby!" There were a few stares, but mostly everyone acted as though it happened all the time.

"Let's go," Bobby said quickly.

"Bobby, I swear I'll kill you!"

Julius followed him out the room and up a set of stairs. Bobby was grinning. "He's definitely going to kill me after that. So, what can you do?"

"Oh…I can um…travel and uh, freeze space and time." Bobby nodded.

"Good to know."

"So, who was the flamethrower?"

"You'll know him soon enough. Just don't make him mad."


	3. Encounter

Riley opened her eyes. She found herself in a dorm room. All the beds were empty, she realized as her eyes adjusted to the sunlight.

On the foot of her bed there were clothes…brand new clothes. A black sweater and a new pair of jeans. With her toes she lifted the sweater, afraid of anything that might be in it.

"The clothes are clean, if you're wondering."

Riley looked around. There was a girl standing in the middle of the room. "Whoa…wow…I didn't see you…come in," Riley said. The girl smiled.

"I'm Kitty Pryde."

"You live here?"

"Yep, along with over a hundred other mutants."

"Mutants?"

Kitty sighed. "You know…mutants! We have the x-gene…we do really cool things…"

"Oh," Riley replied. "Right."

"Come on, I'll show you. But I'll wait until you get dressed." She smiled, then descended through the floors. Riley jumped.

"So, you're saying that this school is only for mutants?"

"Exactly."

Riley and Kitty walked through the corridor.

"So, you can walk through walls."

"That correct."

"Wow. And how do you, like…stay…"

"You mean how I control my power? Well, it takes time, but it's a whole mental thing. Professor Xavier teaches us how to use them and keep them under control." She picked up a book from one of the hallway bookshelves "Watch." She put her hand through the book, then pulled it out. She wiggled her fingers. "You get used to your powers little by little. I fell through my bed once." She giggled. Rayne gave a small smile, and looked down.

"I'm afraid to even use my powers. When I do…they overwhelm me."

"Well, that's why you're here! You must be pretty important if the X-men had to come find you."

"Who?"

They came to the library. There was a man in a wheelchair, talking to the same lady that she met in the alley.

"Professor?"

Professor Xavier looked towards them, and smiled warmly at Rayne."Hello, Riley. I am Professor Xavier, as you may already know."

"Hello," she replied.

"You have already met Ororo Monroe in the alley already." Riley gave a nervous smile.

"I'm sorry," Riley said, "I didn't mean to…I just couldn't…"

"It's alright , Riley. And you can call me Storm if that's easier for you." She smiled as though it happened all the time. "I see you're able to control the elements."

Riley nodded.

"Storm has the ability to control the weather Riley," Professor X added, wheeling over towards the window.

"Oh," Riley replied, not sure what to say. "I guess you know what it's like to have wind blowing in your face all the time." She smirked.

"Don't worry, it happens to every mutant."

"Why did you…help me? How did you find me?" She blurted out. Storm looked at the professor. He raised a hand.

"Do you know a group by the name of the Brotherhood?"

Riley looked around, and shook her head. "No...wait…the people that were trying to attack me. They called themselves the Brotherhood." She looked down. "I have something to do with them, don't I?"

"You were hiding from a long time, weren't you, Riley?"

She nodded.

"The Brotherhood is a group of mutants like us, but would rather hurt the humans than help them. They want to stop us from bringing peace between mutants and humans."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"They wanted you to join them."

"And they would hurt to me to make me join them?"

"They would do anything to have your abilities on their side," Storm added.

"See?" Kitty whispered.

"I understand," Riley said.

Riley walked outside in the gardens. She sighed and closed her eyes.

Julius looked at his hands, then at the trees. He closed his eyes then reopened them. He looked around. The birds stopped flying…the trees stopped swaying…everything stopped. "Cool." He opened and closed his eyes again, and everything returned back to life.

Riley opened her eyes. Something strange just happened. She felt like everything stopped in its tracks. "Time to find Kitty," she said, and started to run down the path. She looked around, and saw a boy, looking around like he was confused. Weirdly enough, she felt drawn to him. She shook her head, and returned to her search. As she got closer, the tug became stronger.

Julius saw her. He felt a strange electric tingle as she came near. He stopped her. "Do I know you?" He asked.

"No," she replied. He studied her confused face.

"You feel it too, don't you, Riley?"

"Feel…how do you know my name? I don't even know you." Julius stepped aside.

"Your name is Riley?" He asked, really confused.

She nodded. "And your name is Julius?"

"Weird…"he said.

"Yeah."

"So, you're new here too?"

She nodded again.

"Coincidence."

"Maybe, maybe not."


	4. England

Caelia walked through the dormitory hallway of the boarding school. She walked with her face covered with a book, trying not to be seen by the human students.

"Caelia Harrand."

She turned around slowly. It was Aaeden Vincent Malenkov, the boy who didn't care who or what she was. She suddenly turned red and lowered the book.

"Uh, hi, Aaeden. Um, what brings you down the dormitory hallway? I mean...well I see you're not going anywhere this weekend."

He smiled and walked up to her and looked at the cover of her book. He raised an eyebrow. "Advanced Psychology: Understanding Insanity? I see…you must be hiding away again."

Caelia sighed and closed the book. "Alright." She shrugged. "I'm the school's main attraction. When it's cold everyone likes being around me, when it's hot, everyone wants to splash water on me. When there's a test they know I memorized the whole book. If my face is covered, no one will notice me, and I won't have to go into a mental breakdown every time a group of fifteen students come and laugh at me." She took a breath and looked down.

"I see." He took the book from her, and bounced it in his hands a couple of times. "Well, I don't know if that will work. You're the only one walking around with a book in your face…it's kinda obvious it's you."

"You really think that?"

He nodded, and handed the book back to her. "I think you've been here long enough that everyone knows you. You're in the tenth grade, right?"

"Eleventh. I skipped seventh grade."

"Right, you're in my physics class."

She nodded.

"Anyways…I don't know what it's like being a mutant, but from what I'm hearing it's practically a war between mutants and the rest of humanity."

Caelia sighed. "It always seems like that. Tanks…attempted cures…rights…it all a big misunderstanding, I assure you." She put her book in her messenger bag.

"So, where are you going anyways?" He asked.

"Oh, just to take a walk outside."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

She smiled and shook her head. "You're welcome to."

* * *

"How long have you had your powers?"

"Six months, I guess. Well, actually I've had them since I was born. They triggered six months ago…technically."

Aaeden nodded, and straightened his glove. "Oh." He watched armored tanks go by as they walked.

"It really is a war," Caelia said, suddenly becoming nervous. "They…there's not many of us…I mean, ones like me…here…in England, right?"

"I don't know. Soon after they'll be trying to…"

"Hey, you!" They turned around. A soldier came to them. Caelia felt her heart drop. Aaeden started to push her behind him, but she stopped him.

"Are you Caelia Harrand?"

She nodded.

"You're under arrest."

"For what?"

"You're a threat to the nation." He grabbed her arm.

"Hey, wait, you can't just arrest her!"

"She's a mutant, boy!" The soldier held up a needle with white, liquid fluid.

Caelia's eyes widened. "Sleeping…" With her other hand she pressed it against the soldier's chest. A solar ray blasted straight through him. A huge round hole appeared in the center of his body. He trembled and dropped to the ground.

"Uh, no," she said, looking at her hand that caused the death of the soldier. "No, no, no…" Aaeden grabbed her hand.

"Let's go," he said running back towards the school.

They were soon stopped by numerous soldiers.

"Aaeden, you have to let me go."

"Stop!" They yelled at them.

Caelia looked at Aaeden. "Run."

"No."

"Run, Aaeden. You need to let me go, or I. will. Kill. You. I can't control my powers, you have to let me go!"

He looked at her one more time, and did as he was told, running in the other direction. She turned to the soldiers.

"You're in trouble, young lady."

Caelia shook her head. She felt herself started to grow hot…really hot. She looked at the sun. It was shining straight at her. She was absorbing too much of the sun's rays.

"Surrender or we'll shoot you, down mutant!"

She closed her eyes. "No," she said quietly.

"What was that?"

Caelia reopened her eyes; glowing like the sun. "No! I will not let you take my life from me!"

The soldiers watched her. She glowed orange, and the area started to get extremely warm…deathly warm.


	5. Additions

"Breaking news from London. There was report of a young fifteen year old mutant who attacked local armed forces yesterday. IN the pictures you see here it shows of some kind of solar twister enveloping fifteen British soldiers, caused by the mutant girl. The soldiers were completely burned to their deaths, leaving nothing only but their skeletons.

"Citizens say the area is still hot. Scientists are guessing the twister heated up to four hundred degrees Celsius. The mutant was not able to be caught, but may have escaped to a different part of the country…"

Julius watched the news broadcast. A few other students watched as well, some of them awed by the new ability. From the corner of his eye he saw Pyro, the flamethrower. He was still flicking that lighter. Julius inched away slightly, and stood by Bobby. "Do you know if the soldiers started attacking her?"

Bobby shrugged. "I don't know. It said she attacked them first."

Julius thought for a moment. "That was yesterday…maybe I can…yeah, I can handle that."

Bobby looked at him. 'You're not going to try to go back are you?"

Julius shrugged. "It's worth a try. If I can see what actually happened, I can get some truth out of it."

"I don't know if that's a good idea, Julius," Bobby whispered. "If you get stuck, no one can help you."

Julius took a breath. "You're right…but I'm just curious." He closed his eyes, and focused.

"Hey, Julius, wait."

He disappeared.

Riley looked down the halls and noticed they were empty. She tried to find Kitty…where was Storm, and the others?

* * *

Aaeden opened his eyes. He felt awfully warm. It was almost as he was hit by Caelia's impact. But it couldn't be possible…he ran to his house, nowhere near where she was. He got out of bed and stared in the mirror. Around his blue irises was orange. He looked closer. Sure enough orange blended with his natural blue eyes. He shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Still orange.

He turned around and noticed the sheets were frail…almost like they were burned. He ran to the bathroom and ran water on his hands. It quickly evaporated, leaving his hands completely dried. He stared at them, as he started breathing faster. "I'm a mutant?"

* * *

Riley found the rest. They were all talking about the news. She saw Bobby, but Julius wasn't there. Kitty sat in front of the television. She walked up and saw what happened. "A fire bomber, huh?"

Kitty turned around. "More like a solar bomber, actually."

"Where's Storm?"

"Storm and Dr. Grey went to find her." Kitty pointed to the news. "Professor Xavier said she was important, and would easily make the government angry if she wasn't found."

Riley nodded. "Oh."

Bobby looked around, and started mumbling things under his breath. Riley raised an eyebrow. "Um, are you okay?"

Bobby looked at Riley. "Oh, yeah, I'm…fine."

"Where's Julius?"

"Space travel."

"What?"

"He went back in time."

"He what? So, that's what he does. Where did he go?"

"Yesterday, in London."

"He can't control…can he?"

"I know. Tried to stop him."

"Let's just hope he comes back before Professor Xavier finds out."

"I already found out." Professor Xavier came in, unexpectedly. Pyro quickly left, pushing other students out of the way.

"Professor," Kitty said, prancing around to stand with Riley. "I guess you know what he's doing, right?"

"Yes. He seems to be a very curious boy."

"I tried to stop him," Bobby said, raising his hands. "He wouldn't listen."

"Yeah," Riley agreed, scratching her head. "If he gets stuck, umm, no one can help him."

"But, you think he'll be back. Right, Professor?" Kitty asked, hopefully.

He didn't answer.

Scott came in, shortly after. "Professor?"

Professor X nodded, and followed Scott out of the room. Riley watched as she saw a third shadow in the hallway.

* * *

Storm and Jean immediately saw Caelia when they came over the beach. She looked scared, worried and furious. "Here," Jean said. Storm landed the jet away from Caelia, knowing she would probably run.

Caelia watched them. She got up from where she was sitting, and started to walk away. _They could be help, _she told herself, trying to believe it. She stopped, as something told her to stay where she was. She turned around, and watched them come. They both looked familiar to her, as though she saw them before. She shook her head.

"Caelia, it's okay," Jean assured her, as they came closer. Caelia backed away, slightly.

"Who are you?" She asked.

"My name is Storm, and this is Dr. Jean Grey. We came to help you."

"We're mutants, like you," Jean said, trying to comfort her.

Caelia nodded. "I can't stay here, anymore," she said, close to tears.

"We know. Will you come with us?"

"Somewhere safe?" Storm added. Caelia nodded, and followed them.

* * *

Bobby watched the X-jet come back to the mansion. Riley kept switching her gaze from the new boy to the window. Kitty was reading as Storm came in with another girl. Riley quickly recognized her from the news broadcast. The new boy looked up as well, his eyes growing wide.

"Caelia?"

She looked at him, confused. "Aaeden? What are you doing here?" She walked up to him, as he stood.

"It's a long story."

"You're a mutant, too?"

He nodded.

Riley looked blankly at them. "Alright, I'm officially confused."

Caelia and Aaeden exchanged glances.


	6. Danger Room

Julius opened his eyes. Everything was moving at the speed of light, rushing past him. He closed his eyes again for a moment and reopened them, finding everything going extremely slow. All of a sudden everything went back to the normal pace. He turned around, realizing he was in the middle of the road. A car was coming straight at him.

"So, wait a minute…you're both from the same country, right?" Riley asked.

Caelia nodded. "I was the only mutant, and…" she sighed. "...things never went as smoothly as I would've wanted them to be."

"And Aaeden was still…normal."

"As far as I knew."

And your abilities, Aaeden…they just triggered?"

"Exactly."

"How did you end up with Caelia's powers?"

Aaeden shrugged. "I absorbed them, I guess."

"You absorbed them?" Kitty asked.

"It's the only explanation I have. I woke up and suddenly my eyes had this orange tone to them, and I was unnaturally warm. I even burnt part of my sheets on my bed. My mum wasn't quite happy about that."

Everyone was silent. Bobby stared, opened his mouth to say something, and then closed it.

Aaeden looked around worried. "That's bad, isn't it?"

No one said anything.

Riley watched the entrance as Scott came in. "I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" He asked.

Bobby shook his head. "We're just sitting around, talking and being petrified." Kitty bumped him hard with her elbow.

"Bobby!"

"Oww…"

"Good," Scott said. "Bobby, Kitty, Danger Room. Oh, and uh…bring them as well." Then he looked around. Riley hoped he wouldn't notice…

"Where's sci-fi boy?"

"Um…he'll be back," Riley said, hoping he'll get off the subject.

"Alright, fine," he said, and then he left. Riley looked at Kitty with worry.

"Danger room? It sounds…" Kitty jumped up and grabbed Riley by the arm.

"Come on," she said, dragging her out. Bobby nodded towards Aaeden and Caelia.

"Time for class," he said. Aaeden and Caelia followed him out of the room.

Riley and Kitty went down a hidden elevator to the subbasement. Riley looked around. "Whoa. It's almost like…actually I don't know what it's like."

"Wait here," Kitty said. She ran down the hallway of the subbasement then turned a corner. She came back a few seconds later, holding a folded, black suit. Riley took it.

"What's this for?"

"Welcome to the X-men, Riley."

"What?"

Kitty dragged her to a door in the same direction she went. "Suit up in here. I'll be back."

"Wait, I don't…"

"It should fit."

Riley looked at it. It fit her perfectly, as though they knew her size before she came. They probably did, from what she could tell.

Kitty came in followed by Storm, Logan, Bobby, and Scott, Aaeden, Caelia, and a few more students she never met all suited up. They looked like a team. " Riley, meet Piotr, and Rogue."

"Hi," she replied.

"Nic e to meet you, Riley," Piotr said, winking at her. "Welcome to the Danger Room."

"Err…thanks."

Storm walked over to a large door, and pressed a few buttons. "Alright, Henry," she said.

"What are we…?"

"Basically we're learning how to be a team," Kitty said to her. "You use your abilities as productive as you can, while acting as a team."

Riley shrugged. "I guess it sounds okay."

"You wouldn't have a choice, anyway," Bobby added.

"Ignore him," Rogue said.

Storm nodded towards Logan and Scott. "Danger Room setting is up to 4. Logan, remember this is a class. I'm trying to teach them something."

"I'll try," he replied.

* * *

Julius stared at the car. He closed his eyes, not trying to see the car, only concluding that it went…right through him. He reopened his eyes, and looked back. He couldn't change the past. He smiled. This was going to be a lot easier than he thought it would be.

With one quick glance, he started to run in the opposite direction, hopefully closer to Caelia's incident. He's only been the England once, so he hoped his memory would hold until his mission was completed. Once he was sure where he was going, he stopped to take a breath. That's when he noticed the soldiers. They were heavily armed, modernly equipped with non metal armory, and weapons. He remembered about a mutant named Magneto…that must be why they switched to plastic. The soldiers were lined up in the road, blocking traffic. One was strangely scanning the people that walked by. He jumped when it was pointed in his direction, but it swept on, scanning other citizens.

* * *

Caelia ran and put her back against a ruined car. Blasts sounded from behind her, and there were numerous blasts of fire. She breathed heavily, trying to catch her breath before she actually figured out what was going on. Then there was a thump…she looked up, realizing they were sentinels. One of them was pointing a missile straight in her direction.

"Oh no…" she mumbled. She shook her hands trying to think about how she would deal with it. The sentinel fired. Out of nowhere Aaeden came and hugged her tightly. The missile went right through the both of them, making Caelia feel a little dizzy. He let her go, and looked at her.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

She nodded. "How did you do that?"

"Kitty," he replied, pointing in her direction.

"Never again," she said. Aaeden shrugged.

"Come on, follow me." He grabbed her hand and led her to where most of the team was. Scott ran ahead, Bobby following.

Riley focused on one of the sentinels. "Come on…control, control," she mumbled to herself. She backed up as it came closer, panicking by the second. The fire started to rise up her arm from her hands. "Yes…" She quickly clapped her hands together, and the fire swirled into the middle area of the mechanism, making a burned out hole. "Ha!" she said, before falling to her knees. "That was perfect."

Logan looked at it, smoking his cigar. "Humph…"

"Logan!"He turned around. Storm grabbed him, and threw him into a ruin before he got shot. He looked down, and noticed that his cigar was gone. "Wonderful."

* * *

Julius recognized the two walking down the sidewalk. Caelia and Aaeden. He watched them run into the soldiers as people walked through him. From what he saw, the soldiers were threatening her first. They approached her with guns, and one of them even grabbed her. It all made sense to him; it was what he would have suspected, being a mutant.

He kept watching. Aaeden began to run away, and the pavement under Caelia's feet began to turn yellow. In an instant, there was a burst of radiating heat. He shielded his eyes with his forearm and turned away. It didn't stop for a while, so he ran the other way, affected by the burst of energy. He quickly thought of the school in the present time, and vanished.

Logan watched the team. "The new girl, Riley is going to blow, Storm. I think we need a backup plan." His claws came through his knuckles.

* * *

Storm looked at Riley, realizing she was on the ground, sleeping. A blast sounded behind them. "Logan, stay here. If you're going to do something, work with the team, not alone." She left Logan and flew over to Riley. She kneeled, and gently shook her. "Riley," she called. She didn't answer. Suddenly, a frozen sentinel head fell to the ground, just a few feet away from them. Logan came from behind it, his claws shimmering from a loose fire.

"Logan,"

Bobby and Scott came out after him. "He helped," Scott said. Logan reclined his claws, and watched the others regroup. Caelia seemed half dazed as she came back with Aaeden.

Storm stood up. "Class dismissed," she sighed. Riley began to stir as the Danger Room scenery went back to normal. She opened her eyes and stood up.

"What did I miss?" She asked.

"What did we miss?" Aaeden asked. They walked out of the Danger Room, as Riley explained what happened.


	7. Problems

Julius felt his feet lift off the ground, and all the colors blend together around him. The next thing he knew he was in water. He opened his eyes, and found out he was looking a t little, red fish, and the bottom of a fountain. He lifted his head above the water, coughing it up. He stood, his feet touching the bottom, and ran his head through his wet, black hair, slightly dazed. He took a glance around and noticed he was back at the institute. Wearily, he climbed out, dripping wet and cold. It was nearly dark he realized before moving another step. As he walked, he thought about what he seen, and what he did.

Julius snuck in through the front door. The foyer was quiet, and empty. He started to walk down the hallway, hoping non one missed him.

"Hello, Julius," a voice said behind him. He turned around, startled, water slightly dripping from his hair, and the hem of his shirt. Pyro was leaning against the wall with his light in his hand.

"Pyro," Julius replied, sticking his hands in his pockets. He took two steps backward. All he could remember was Bobby's advice: 'Stay away from him.' He started to shiver, from either the fact that he was wet, or he was afraid. He couldn't tell.

"Where were you?" He started to flick his lighter, making that annoying 'click, click' again.

"Why do you want to know?"

"Because I asked. Do the others know you left school grounds without telling anyone?" Julius looked around. Where was he going with this?

"Technically, I told some one." Bobby. He turned around and started to continue his walk down the hallway.

"You're gonna be trouble, Timefield." Julius stopped. Timefield? It was a stupid name from somewhere. His journal. He slowly turned around.

"What did you call me?"

"You know what I called you." Pyro held up a small leather book. "You want it?"

"Give me that!"

"Wait…wait." He opened it, and flicked his light on. "_Page one. __Torment._"

"Pyro…"

"_I watched her sleep…"_

"Pyro!" Both of them looked around. Scott stood there, staring at Pyro. He flicked the book towards Julius then walked away. Julius turned bright red and picked it up. He looked at Scott, who sighed.

"Thanks," Julius said.

"He hates you."

"I know."

"And another thing…why _are_ you wet?"

Julius stopped breathing for a second. Busted.

* * *

Riley shrugged. She didn't know what to do, or what to say about how she was able to control her powers. She really didn't know how, or really the fact that she didn't control them. "I just think."

"What do you think about?" Jean asked.

"I don't know. I think about something that I'm angry with, which…gives me fire." She pulled her finger, and looked away. She realized she never thought about how. "If I think about something like a…flower I get water. Everything else is…"

"Unpredictable?"

"Yeah, exactly what I was going to say. How did you know that? Lucky guess?"

"Not exactly."

Riley looked up. "You mean you can…"

Jean nodded, slightly. "Exactly."

She looked at her hands then noticed a strange feeling in her head. She looked around. "I'm sorry. I just…Julius is back, isn't he?" She said quietly then looked back up at Jean, for some kind of hopeful response.

"Let's not say anything about it, okay?"

Riley smiled, and nodded. "It'll be too weird, like it already is. It's not like I have a psychic bond to him, or anything…right?"

"From what you told me, you do. It's a little strange at first, but you'll get used to it."

"Really? How come I didn't know about this before?"

"It became stronger when you met him. You really didn't realize it until…"

"I thought about him?"

"Right."

Riley nodded then sat back. "So, who's your bonding partner?"

"You've met Scott Summers, haven't you?"

Riley nodded. "Wow. I didn't know being a mutant was…"

"Not as complicated as you thought, but still is in a way?"

Riley stared at her for a moment.

"That time, it was your facial expression."

Riley smiled again. "I could get used to this."

* * *

Aaeden laid on his bed thinking. He wasn't so sure how this whole thing was going to play out. He couldn't go back to his parents, or they wouldn't be happy at all. They would try to get him arrested after all for being a possible threat. He probably shouldn't anyhow. This absorbing business was getting way out of control. The other mutants seemed happy. The same paper airplane flew by him forty five times, and his roommates were showing off their weird abilities to each other, including the boy with the lizard tongue. He was kind of worried what would happen if they went in public…

He sat up. It was no use lying down. That's when he noticed his legs were sinking in the bed. He blinked wondering, then realized he was falling through bed. "Oh, no."

* * *

Julius walked down the hallway, both clutching his book and looking out for Pyro at the same time. At least Scott promised he wouldn't tell anyone where he went, even though he slightly doubted that Professor Xavier would never find out. Suddenly something fell in front of him, or rather someone. He stopped and looked down, up, and then down again. "Did you just fall through the ceiling?"

Aaeden groaned then looked up at Julius. He nodded then started to sink down into the floor again. Julius looked around.

"Um, I could use some help here!"

Julius tried pulling him up, but he wouldn't budge. Actually he was just hurting him.

Julius kept looking around. "Uh, stay right there! I'll be back." He ran the other direction then turned left. That's when he bumped into Kitty.

"Kitty!"

"Oh, hey Julius."

He grabbed her wrist, and quickly led her to Aaeden.

"Hey, Julius, what's going on?" She stopped when she saw Aaeden, half sunken through the floor.

She grinned then disappeared under the floor.

Aaeden sighed. The next thing he knew he was being lifted out of the floor. Once he was out he started to breathe slowly, making sure he didn't fall through the floor again. Kitty came up laughing at him.

Aaeden groaned. "How is that frecking funny?"

"That happened to me, once. Except that it was in the middle of the night. You're lucky, Aaeden."

Julius looked at Aaeden. "Is your name Aaeden Malenkov?"

Aaeden nodded, trying to think where he's met him before. They've never met in their lives.

"And you are?"

"Julius Copewood. Sorry if I …took a while. I slow at things…especially trying to figure out why you were…sinking through the floor. Then, I realized you could walk through walls, like Kitty…"

He frowned. He did realize Kitty and Aaeden could both walk through walls. "How do you do that, Aaeden?"

"I absorb abilities," he replied wearily. "I know, strange isn't it? I probably just absorbed yours, too, but I don't want to find out. I really don't."

**I know it's not much, but I'll get to some more action sequences sooner or later. Since they're still in their early stages I don't want to go too fast. This is showing how they're dealing with their ablilities that they can't control. Keep watching out for more!**

**bkwrm**


	8. Connections

Caelia looked around the classroom. Everyone kept their eyes on Storm, and not on her, even if she was new. She asked Rogue about it, and she even said it was because they get new mutants all the time, and she was one of them once. Caelia watched the student in front her. Her name was Lyra. Every time she moved her hair would change color. It was finally nice to be in a class with kids like her.

Storm was telling them about a group of evil mutants, called the Brotherhood. They were the real threats to society, as Caelia understood. That's when she remembered one of the soldier's faces. Instead of the normal blue eyes, one of them had yellow eyes. She had seen yellow eyed people like that soldier before, but they all had the same suspicious stare. And, she was the only one to notice the difference. She shifted in her chair uncomfortably, trying to listen.

* * *

Julius spent most of his time in the garden the next day. He wrote down everything he saw in his time travel. The scanners, monitors, and soldiers. The only thing he didn't understand was why the soldiers thought Caelia was a threat. He thought about the soldiers around her, and decided that all of them were normal…except one. There was a yellow eyed one, behind the one that grabbed Caelia. He tapped his pencil. He was the only odd one out of the whole group. He turned to the back of his journal, where he had a newspaper article of a group called the Brotherhood. The picture was blurry, but he could make out a blue person with yellow eyes. He wondered if…they had to be the same person. He closed his journal. There was only one other person that would recognize the same soldier, and that was Caelia. He thought for a moment. Maybe it didn't matter anymore. They were safe at the institute, but the rest of the world was never safe.

* * *

"What are you talking about?"

"They're after us. All of us."

"All of who?"

Julius sighed. "Did the police ever come to your home?"

Caelia nodded. "Once. They were looking for me."

"And did they ever find you?"

"Only when I was walking down the street. Someone must of told them where I attended school."

"And, what about Aaeden?"

Caelia looked around, and gave Julius a wondering look. "What about him?"

He opened up his notebook again, flipped through some pages then closed it. "His sister somehow contacted me this morning."

"His sister? You know her?"

"I don't. But one of my cousins do. They both attend University of Oxford, right?"

"That's right."

"So, here we are. She said something about their father…he was a mutant too. He was locked behind prison doors before Aaeden was born after being accused of stealing federal property. The only problem was he wasn't the robber. He was blackmailed after he was released from Mutant X…by the Brotherhood, one mutant in particular."

"Her name is Mystique, isn't it?"

Julius nodded. "How did you know?"

"I heard someone mention her name before…a while ago. My father used to work for Mutant X." She looked down. "That was before he was kicked out of the country." She shrugged.

"So, somehow we're all connected. All of us had been searched by the Brotherhood, one way or another, and they'll keep trying to get their hands on us. But why?"

"We're new mutants, with new abilities, that they could use to make this place a living hell."

Julius shrugged. "That's one way to put it."

She looked at her watch. "We should talk to the others."

"Now?"

"No. After our team practice."

"What?"

"They never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"You're on the X-men, Julius."

She stood up. "Come on, we're going to be late."


	9. Dicussion

Julius stood in the commotion then started running behind his team. They split up in two's, and started to run in different directions. He was paired with Aaeden, who dragged him down behind a wall.

"So, this is how it feels," Julius said, catching his breath.

Aaeden smirked. "You're feeling it sort of easy. We've been in here before, when you were…gone." He jumped at the sound of an explosion.

"What are we being attacked by?"

"Sentinels."

Julius looked around the corner, and watched Storm send lightning to the sky. "I have a problem," he said, turning around. "I can't…"

Aaeden grabbed his collar. "Let's go. We'll meet up with the rest of them." He dragged him past minor obstacles to Caelia and Riley. Riley was crouching, her hand on the ground.

"Where were you guys?" Riley asked, as they came over.

"Hiding, to tell you the truth," Julius said. "Why am I in here?"

"Because, you're part of a team," Caelia said. "Can you create doors?"

"What kind of doors?"

"Any kind of doors…a door that will somehow make this thing disappear."

Julius shook his head slowly. "No."

"Try."

"What?"

Riley dragged him to an open area, closest to the sentinel. Through the smoke he saw a metal foot and a red laser, pointing right at him.

"Now, Julius!" Riley yelled.

Before he could think properly, a frame of light formed in front of the sentinel. The beam was swallowed, and as it stepped again, it fell through. Riley stood and stared then looked at Julius. He dropped to his knees then fell onto his back. He was panting as though he just sprinted a mile.

Storm went over them. She looked at the place where it was absent, then down at Julius. He sat up as the room changed from a war scene to its normal state.

"That took the life out of me," he said, holding his head.

"How did you do that?" Riley said.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I just…I don't know."

"Julius, do you know _where_ you sent that sentinel?" Storm asked.

He looked up and shook his head. "No…that's a problem isn't it?"

"It could be," she replied. "Let's hope it's not."

* * *

"What do you mean I'm wanted by the Brotherhood?" Aaeden asked. The four of them sat by the window, accompanied by Bobby, and far away: Pyro.

"All four of us are wanted to by the Brotherhood," Caelia explained.

"Like fresh bait," Riley said. She crossed her arms. "They want our power."

"They want to use it for something…bad," Julius said, thinking. "But they can't…at least, not now. Magneto is imprisoned where he won't get out."

"At least that's what we think now," Riley said. "The Brotherhood will still be together, with or without Magneto. They still found me even though I was in the deepest suburbs in New York. And no one ever comes down there…ever."

"And that's when Professor Xavier found you in Cerebro," Bobby said. "Usually it would be hard to find mutants in a crowd of people, unless there was a new addition to the team that could track down mutants by smell."

"Weak, and powerful ones," Julius added. "But let's hope that wasn't the case."

"But whatever it was, it wasn't hard to find her."

"How do we deal with this?" Aaeden asked.

"That's why you're here at the institute, isn't it? I mean, the Danger Room isn't just a game, you know. I wish it was, but you know what the Professor is trying to do, right?"

Aaeden nodded. "For the next few months, we'll have to use our heads, way beyond our physical abilities."

"Without putting everyone else in danger," Riley said, putting her chin on our hand.

"We've got everything under control," Bobby said, leaning on the wall.

"I have a bad feeling," Caelia said. "A really bad feeling. If your government doesn't want us here, they'll find us."

Everyone looked at her. It was a problem, and it wasn't something they could ignore.


	10. Sentinel

Riley watched the other mutants in her dorm. They seemed happy, she observed. She wondered if they ever missed their own parents; some being so far away from home. Even if she wanted to know how they felt, she didn't have the guts to ask. Even the smaller mutants seemed fine. She sighed. She always missed her parents; no seeing them since she was three, it almost tore her apart. But, ever since she came to this school, she's been less naïve, more patient, and not so angry at the world. And everyone was so nice to her. At least it was better than living on the street. But it all wasn't over yet. She still had to fight through the Brotherhood.

* * *

Storm walked through the sub basement. She need to talk to Henry and Riley, mainly to see if he noticed anything unusual. Suddenly Scott came running towards her.

"Storm, we have problem."

They both stopped.

""Jean saw something. Apparently the sentinel Julius made disappear ended up somewhere else."

"Where?"

"China. It's inactive at the moment, but it's soon not going to be."

Kitty's mouth gaped open as she watched the news. The sentinel that Julius thought he destroyed wasn't destroyed after all.

"Kitty!"

She turned around. Logan motioned her to come towards him. She went.

"You think you can help us with that?"

"No," she said quickly.

"Suit up, you're coming with us, kid."

Julius ran through the dorm hallway. Halfway down the steps he was stopped by Piotr. "Whoa, where are you going?" He asked.

"I need to…"

"Professor X said you're staying here."

"What? I should be the one going."

"Not this time." He pushed him back upstairs.

"Hey!" He yelled, but didn't try going against him. He's tried his hand at football, and almost got crushed. I don't they called Piotr Colossus for nothing.

"You're not the only one that's staying. Look around you.'

"Hey, that's not the same. I'm an X-man, just like you, Piotr."

"Hey, I can't argue with you, or I'll be arguing with Professor X, too."

Julius gave up. "Fine," he said then retreated back to his dorm room. "I have something else to do, anyway."

* * *

Aaden stood in the medical bay. He looked at his new belt that was fastened around his waist. There was also a type of device that was around his wrist and a chip that was placed behind his ear. He tried to scratch it multiple times, but the man they called Beast told him not to. He looked up, and saw that Beast was looking at something on one of the monitors. He was obviously looking for something specific. "Do you feel alright, Aaeden?"

He dropped his arm. "I suppose I feel fine. Do I really need to wear all this all the time?"

"Just until you can control your abilities. At the rate you were going you could've easily kill everyone in the school without even knowing it. You're also absorbing so many abilities at one time, your brain doesn't know how to organize each one without having at least one active."

"Isn't Dr. Jean Grey the doctor here?"

"Yes, but for your purposes…or rather your own safety I was assigned to attend to you."

"So, you're saying I'm dangerous."

"You have the potential."

Aaeden frowned.

"Don't worry about it. There were others like you. Bobby was one who had trouble, as well as Dr. Jean Grey. Do you see a green button on your wrist?"

"Yes."

"Can you press that, please? Okay, Everything should be activated and working."

"Thank you." He put his shirt over his belt, and rolled down his sleeve. He really didn't have to do anything with it, which he was glad for. Technology wasn't really in his field. Maybe he could finally get some sleep without getting a bruise, or changing the room temperature in the middle of the night. "I heard Dr. Grey almost lost control with her abilities. Is that true?"

Beast sighed. "Unfortunately that is true. We gave her a name: The Phoenix."

"And, why didn't she have this?" He lifted up his arm.

"That," Beast started, pointing to his arm, "Is to try to organize all your different abilities. It's not implied to fully control them, so in Jean's case, it wouldn't exactly work. But, the real reason is because it's new. You should thank Forge for creating that for you."

"I'm guessing he's a mutant too."

"Of course."

Aaeden nodded. "Will you thank him for me? I really appreciate it."

"That shouldn't be a difficult task."

* * *

Kitty, Bobby, Rogue, and Colossus sat behind Storm, Scott, and Logan.

"Storm, do you think we're ready for this?" Kitty asked.

"Now's not the time to be asking that, is it?" Logan asked. "A little late for that."


	11. Mistakes and Allies

The guard walked through the plastic tunnel. He was the first guard to attend to the Brotherhood leader: Magneto as he was called. His boss specifically said not to wear any metal, but unlike his boss, he didn't know anything about Magneto. To him Magneto was just some prisoner.

He opened the door with a tray of food, and put it on the small table.

Magneto looked up at the guard, then the food. On the tray was a metal fork. Stupid.

The guard began to turn around.

"Wait," Magneto pleaded.

"What is it?"

Magneto picked up the fork. "Would you like to see a trick?"

The guard eyed him with a daring glare. He really didn't have time for it, but it would probably be something good to show his kids. "Make it quick."

Magneto ginned, as the fork lifted into the air. The guard stepped back. The fork swiveled, started to crumple with the movement of Magneto's fingers.

"Who are you?" The guard asked. In panic he put his hand to his gun. "What are you?"

Magneto frowned. "You don't know who I am? Well that shouldn't be."

"You're mutant! Yeah, that's what you are."

"Why else am I in here? Humans are so stupid." The fork extended, and pointed at the guard. The guard backed up more towards the door.

"Do you honestly think this thing can contain me? And you gave me a metal fork." The fork moved closer to the guard. "Do you know I can kill you with this?"

"Please don't kill me," the guard pleaded. H e slowly moved his hand towards the door switch. The door opened, the fork missing his head by a few centimeters.

Magneto sighed, and returned to his one player chess game. "Humans."

Caelia watched the X-jet fly over the school. Other mutants watched up at the sky, always amazed at the X-men. She wondered hastily where they were going.

Aaeden came walking by her as soon as the jet left. He saw her and smiled. "Hi, Caelia!"

She turned her head, and waved. "Do you know where they're going?" She pointed up.



* * *



Aaeden thought for a moment then motioned her to come over. "Remember Julius' sentinel? He sent it to China."

"Really?"

"Bobby, Kitty, Rogue and Piotr went with the team."

"And why not us?"

"I think it's a matter of life and death. We're too dangerous to be going out in a highly populated country like that anyway. Plus, we're not that experienced."

Caelia sighed. "Maybe you're right. Where were you?"

"I was…I was in the medical bay. I got something to keep me from falling through things." He rubbed his left forearm.

Caelia frowned. "It's that bad?"

Aaeden shrugged. "I guess. So far I only have half the school's populations abilities. Anymore and I'll be on a road to pure destruction."

"Oh," Caelia replied. She back up to the sky. "I have a bad feeling about something."

Aaeden looked at her. "Like what? A war?"

"No, nothing like that…just something, bad."

* * *

Julius sat down in the hallway. It was quiet, and empty. He thumped his head on the wall, regretting ever trying to use his abilities. He looked at the ceiling, realizing it was blurry…he didn't have his glasses on.

Riley watched him from a ways away. After studying him for a little while, she began to walk up to him. "Julius?"

He looked to his left. Riley was walking towards him, hesitating a bit. His turned his head back to ceiling, signaling he didn't care if she came towards him or not. He closed his eyes and sat still, trying to block everything else out. She walked over and sat directly in front of him.

"Julius…" she waved her hand in front of his face. "Julius?"

She gasped when he suddenly grabbed her wrist. He opened his eyes and looked at her. "Don't," he said, then let go. "I hate it when people do that to me.

"Sorry," she replied. There was a long silence. "Are you okay?" she finally asked.

"When I'm banging my head on the wall, that usually means I made a mistake."

"The sentinel?"

He sighed.

"I heard about that. You know, it's not totally your fault. Well, maybe it is…"

"You're not helping."

"I mean…" she sighed herself, then positioned herself beside him. "I mean…you didn't know where it was going to go. Quit blaming yourself."

"It was my fault."

"I said, quit blaming yourself. The best idea would be to listen to me. If you didn't you would probably get hurt…but…since we're not on the streets…it doesn't matter anymore."

He turned his head towards her. She was looking at her fingernails: talking but not really paying attention to what she was saying. He started to smile, laughing a little.

She looked at him with a bewildering look. "What's so funny? Why are you laughing?"

"You're really something, Riley. I don't know how a girl like you could have ended up on the street."

"I hope that was a compliment."

"It was supposed to be…yes."

She gave a small smile. "I guess you're not that bad either, Julius. You know to tell you the truth I liked you the best. Even with that…weird connection in the beginning."

"I could say the same about you."

Riley looked back at her fingernails, slightly embarrassed. "Thanks," she said.

"That was a compliment, for sure."


End file.
